Many type of conventional footwear, including dress shoes, work boots and even athletic shoes, may not provide adequate traction for the wearer on certain types of slippery or wet surfaces. Hence, in attempting to traverse such a slippery, icy or wet surface, injury may occur.
In order to avoid the likelihood of injury, a number of solutions have been proposed, such as non-slip footwear and footwear attachment devices, which are aimed at increasing the traction between the wearer and the slippery surface. One example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,945 to the present assignee, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. While this device has been commercially successful over the years, it is not readily adaptable to different surface conditions that might be encountered by a wearer or wearer preferences. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2010/0058615 to the present assignee, the entire contents of which are also hereby incorporated by reference, but this device is more suitable for indoor use and conditions.
Accordingly, it would thus be desirable to provide user friendly non-slip footwear that is economical, adaptable to a variety of footwear and wearer preferences, and which is also adaptable to a variety of surface conditions.